The former model stepped off the plane at Cairo international airport wearing high-waisted white pants, a pleated white shirt and a dark tie with a beige jacket slung over her shoulders.

She was welcomed by Egyptian First Lady Intissar Amer al-Sisi, an observant Muslim who wore an ankle-length blue dress and matching headscarf covering her hair.

The US First Lady then beamed at the flower girls before heading to the airport’s VIP lounge for formal photographs.

Tight security was in place across the capital for her visit which comes as security forces face a persistent jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula across the Suez Canal to the northeast.

During her whistlestop five-hour stay, the US First Lady was scheduled to visit the Pyramids of Giza and the new National Museum under construction next door.

Her low-key tour, during which she has made no comment to reporters, has contrasted with the political tumult back home where her husband was set to score a big political win on Saturday after days of acrimonious deadlock inside and outside the Senate over his Supreme Court pick.